The Great O.Vaagen: Olivia Vaagen reaches new heights in final season

DICKINSON Hockey fans across the world typically associate the nickname Ovi with Alex Ovechkin: captain of the NHLs Washington Capitals.

In Dickinson, N.D., however, that nickname belongs to Midgets senior goaltender Olivia Vaagen.

Back when she was a member of the Dickinson Outlaws, there were three players named Olivia.

Hockey is known for handing out some unique nicknames to certain players, so her coach, Nick Peterson, started calling her O.V.

in honor of Washington's captain.

ADVERTISEMENT Born in Baudette, Minn., Vaagen first stepped on a sheet of ice as a figure skater at age 2.

She put on a pair of hockey skates when she was in kindergarten and then moved to Dickinson the following year.

Vaagens hockey career did not start with a glove and blocker, but rather it started with player mitts and sticks.

O.V.

wore No.

8 because of Ovechkin when she was a player, all the way through sixth-grade.

She switched back-and-forth between skater and goalie during her eighth-grade year, but became a full-time netminder at the back half of that season.

My brother [Gabe Vaagen] was a goalie, so I looked up to him a lot, so that's kind of why I wanted to try it, Vaagen said.

I think I just kept playing it because it just gives you a lot of confidence, and I like being like the backbone for my team and knowing that my team can count on me.

Her first season with the Midgets came in the 2021-22 season.

But her rookie campaign did not go as planned.

Vaagen went 2-6-0 with a 4.61 goals-against average and an .881 save percentage in eight games.

She said she got down on herself, and started contemplating hanging up her skates.

Coming in, I knew pretty much the whole team.

I played with that freshman-through-senior class in my club years, so I knew everyone.

It wasnt that I wasnt close with people, it was just really hard to be a freshman goalie and have that pressure of being a seniors goalie [partner] and stuff like that, Vaagen said.

And it was just a struggle for a little bit for me to trust myself, even though I realized that I could block shots and stuff that seniors and upperclassmen were shooting.

But DHS head coach Lance Knudson, who was a first-year coach at the time, convinced Vaagen to continue guarding the cage for the Midgets.

More importantly, he believed in his young netminder that she could reach her potential if she continued to grind.

ADVERTISEMENT Shes super-disciplined, very consistent.

She does all the little things that add up to big things in the end, Knudson said.

She's an athletic kid.

She works her butt off, she lifts on her own, she watches film, she takes care of her body, she does a lot of extra goaltending stuff in the offseason and she's really just putting in the time to continue to get better-and-better.

Even though her sophomore year did not coalesce, going 3-16-0, the increased playing time flourished her confidence.

Two of those victories were shutouts and she carried that momentum into her junior season, where she set career-bests across the board, going 7-15-0 with a 3.45 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.

During her sophomore year, she was the lone goalie on the roster for the first few games, and that resulted in a changed mindset heading into the season.

I just knew that if I played badly, that's all my team had.

So I was like Ok well, you just can't play bad.

So it was a lot of pressure at first, but I kind of learned to use it, Vaagen said.

I don't think, Oh, if I mess up, I just have to shut down.

If I let a goal in, I can't just stop playing mid-game.

Vaagens persistence and work ethic is why she was named one of the teams captains for the 2024-25 season.

Its rare for a goaltender on a hockey team to don the C, and its something that caught her by surprise.

One of the tasks she assumed was to guide the future netminder of the Midgets program.

Backup goaltender Kahlan Lopez was Vaagens partner for the past two seasons, and their relationship has grown stronger this season.

Though she has not appeared in any games this year, the rising freshman used that time to learn from her partner, knowing that she will be taking over the reigns next season.

Vaagen believes in Lopez to thrive in-between the pipes in 2025-26.

ADVERTISEMENT O.V.

has been a really good tutor.

I think that the small sessions on ice together that we have done, they've been really, really helpful, an emotional Lopez said.

Most practices, it feels like I'm just not ready to do this, and I don't know I'm gonna survive next year without O.V.

But I know there's an entire team, and there's so many people that are going to help support me.

There is still work to be done for this young DHS team, but Vaagen is leading her group to new heights.

The Midgets are on the cusp of a playoff spot and have three games remaining on their schedule.

Their goal at the beginning of the campaign was to play meaningful games down the stretch and so far that is the case.

Just as the No.

8 played a significant role in Vaagens hockey career, that number is the teams program record for most state victories in a season.

Dickinson is two wins away from hitting that and theyll have a chance to do so if Vaagen remains steady in the crease..

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